Moreover, in these drier districts,
only certain crops, carefully cultivated, will yield profitably, and
the pasture and the kitchen garden are practical impossibilities
from an economic point of view. Such conditions, though profitable
dry-farming is feasible, preclude the existence of the home and the
barn on or even near the farm. When feed must be hauled many miles,
the profits of the live stock industry are materially reduced and
the dry-farmer usually prefers to grow a crop of wheat, the straw of
which may be plowed under the soil to the great advantage of the
following crop. In dry-farm districts where the rainfall is higher
or better distributed, or where the ground water is near the
surface, there should be no reason why dry-farming and live stock
should not go hand in hand. Wherever water is within reach, the
homestead is also possible. The recent development of the gasoline
motor for pumping purposes makes possible a small home garden
wherever a little water is available. The lack of water for culinary
purposes is really the problem that has stood between the joint
development of dry-farming and the live stock industry.
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